Anticipating, Chapter 36

**A/N:  Ok, ok…I guess great things can come in 4’s, too…**

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(A different kind of night, aka:  Ponder, Plan, Plot, and Pray – Part 3)

Godric felt small chunks of his ancient heart breaking free at Cara’s words.  After a few moments, he felt he should be dizzy considering the range of emotions both inspired in himself by her words and felt through the now-opened bond.

It was as if a burst of electricity had jolted him when the bond reopened.   He was flooded with a cacophony of emotions…no wonder his Cara had been having such a rough time!  He suddenly knew her anger, fear, loneliness, sadness, warmth, joy, desolation, irritation, disbelief, melancholy, desire, and, finally, love.   How a mere mortal, or mostly-mortal, could have, much less contain, such a vast array of emotions was beyond his understanding.

He had thought that she cared for him, but given their lack of time spent together, he feared her regard would be light at best.  When she spoke of wanting to truly know him, and not just his body, he was floored.  In all his accumulated years, no one had actually wanted to know the man within the vampire, except perhaps his children.

His male child, Eric, loved him truly as a father, brother, and son.  His female child loved him dearly as a father and best friend.  His Cara, apparently, loved him as a woman loves her man, and wanted to know him as such.  At this realization, he could not stop the tears from spilling down his face.

His Cara was a fascinating yet extremely complicated bundle of conflicted emotions, and he would have to tread carefully while helping her to understand and organize her thoughts and feelings.

He barely restrained himself from openly sobbing when she mentioned how she loved his laugh, and how she did not hear it enough.

Beautiful.  She thought he was beautiful.   Godric had never felt so humbled.  By this time he felt like he was barely hanging onto the wildest emotional ride of his existence…then she admitted that she might be falling in love with him.  What did she fear, and why?  Surely not him?

He automatically stiffened as he waited for her to continue, and when she didn’t, he pulled back far enough to see the fear in her face.  Her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip like she was trying to eat her words before they could escape.

“Cara?”  She did not respond.

“Cara, I sense your fear, and I do not like it.  What frightens you, ma petite?  Tell me, and I will do my best to eradicate it.”

He knew she did not mean to be so adorable as she screwed up her nose in chagrin.

Cara had the strongest “oops” moment of her life.  Shit.  She just had to go and run her mouth, didn’t she…and of course Godric wouldn’t let that one go, would he…  Of course not…

Still keeping her eyes closed, she requested, “Can we just pretend I didn’t say that?”

“No.”

The tone of his voice made her eyes pop open.  She spotted the red trails of his tears and her hands flew to his face.

“Godric!” she gasped.  “What’s wrong?”

He felt her sudden panic taking hold, and immediately sought to ease her mind.

He laughed softly.  “It is nothing, my love.  Vampire tears are simply made of blood.  I am fine.”

Naturally the thought of him crying made her cry…again.  She hugged him to her, belatedly offering love and support and any other emotion to keep him from crying more.  After a long moment, she leaned back, clasped his face between her hands, and urged him closer so she could kiss his tears away.

Thankfully her stomach waited until that mission was accomplished before making itself heard…loudly.  Startled by the noise, Cara giggled.

Very happy that the awkward moment had passed, although by no means were they finished with their conversation, Godric placed a swift, hard kiss to her lips then gestured toward the humongous picnic basket near the door.

“Have a seat, my dear.  Your dinner awaits.”

Cara wandered over to a comfy looking sofa and sat down sideways against the arm while Godric hauled the huge, heavy basket to the table in front of the sofa.  He knelt near her feet and, using his body to block her from seeing into it, started unpacking.  She couldn’t believe how much stuff was in it.

After a while her curiosity got the better of her and she tried to peep over into the basket.  She collapsed into a major giggle-fest when he tutted at her and mock-sternly requested that she keep her nosiness to herself.

Eventually the table was loaded:  a large thermos she prayed was filled with coffee, another large thermos she really hoped was filled with milk, a cup and saucer, a set of utensils, a small box of bakery cookies, a medium-sized bakery box filled with other sweet baked goods (white-chocolate éclairs, blondies, and decorated mini-cupcakes), a pretty glass bowl of fruit (two each of apples, oranges, bananas, and tangerines), a baguette, four different cheeses, a cheese knife and board, a bottle of orange juice, and several cloth napkins.

Cara was amazed at the spread before her.  As huge as the basket was, she couldn’t believe all that had come out of it, and the fact that he still wouldn’t let her look told her that it still wasn’t empty!

Finally remembering to close her mouth from the surprise of it all, she looked over and took in Godric’s satisfied expression.

“Wow!  I can’t believe all that came out of that basket!  It’s perfect!”  She laughed happily as she realized that everything displayed on the table was something she liked.  “Oh, honey, I love everything here!”

In a split second, she realized that, no matter the things he didn’t do, she rarely thanked him enough for the things he did.

She leaned over, took his face between her palms, and kissed his forehead.  “You do take very good care of me, Mr. Sexy Vampire Beast, and I appreciate it.  Thank you.”  The extremely pleased, proud look on his face was her immense reward.

Godric leaned back against the couch and enjoyed watching Cara as she dove into the spread on the table, going for the coffee first, of course.  He laughed at her squeal of happiness over the coffee service.

He savored how deeply satisfying it was providing for her, and was glad he had chosen to task Beck with gathering these particular items, and was rather impressed with how quickly and well his day man had performed his duties.  He would be rewarded for his ingenuity in following his sometimes difficult orders.

Because of his Cara, he found himself giving unexpected raises to many people, and found he did not mind one bit.

He hoped that after she had eaten, she might be more inclined to continue their conversation.  They had much left to discuss, and this was above and beyond the most important part of the plan for this evening:  discovering and fixing whatever it was that was making her so unhappy.

He fully realized that, of all the important items on his agenda, Cara topped them all.  Yes, there were Weres needing to be interrogated, but they could easily wait in custody another night.  Perhaps this waiting would loosen their foul tongues…well, tongue, he thought with a smirk.  Yes, he had Council business needing his attention, but Isabel was more than able to deal with that annoying mess.  The reports and investigations due from his underlings were either in progress or on his desk…and again, Isabel could deal with anything more urgent.  His investments all-but ran themselves.  All his other plans revolved around  different aspects of timing and were going well according to his calculations, so…this night, as well any others needed to solidify his rapport with Cara, was his to use as needed.

Cara’s moan of pleasure abruptly refocused Godric’s attention.  Apparently she liked the combination of bread, cheese, and apple.  He enjoyed her obvious appreciation of certain foods, and was pleased she was so neat and dainty in her eating habits.  Several times in the past week or so their eyes had met in mutual humor over some of the Were’s less than elegant eating behavior.

Had it really been less than two weeks?  No wonder his Cara was having difficulties adjusting.  From his understanding, she had gone from a calm, normal, perhaps even boring existence to suddenly being thrust into the more violent aspects of supe life, and the urgency of being personally involved with a vampire.  Both situations would require a certain amount of adjustment, but when combined…

He regarded his Cara with new respect, and realized he knew as little about her as she did about him.  She was right.

Cara knew their conversation was far from over, but she’d take what she could get, and right now, this apple was really good.  It didn’t hurt that Godric’s gaze shifted back to her at her moan of delight – that had to be one of the sweetest apples she’d ever tasted.  His eyes darkened when her tongue darted out to catch a drop of juice before it ran down her chin.  Already half full from inhaling some of the bread and much of the cheeses, she savored the apple.

Although she didn’t think she was any sort of seductress by nature, she did decide to have some fun licking the juice from her fingers.   If her attempts succeeded and she did manage to avoid any more of that particular conversation, she’d be a very happy girl indeed.

No such luck.  As soon as she finished her apple, Godric led her to a huge, extremely well-appointed bathroom so she could “tend to her human needs.”  She really wanted to tell him that this human “needed” to not resume that particular conversation but would much rather “tend” to the “need” clearly evident in the bulge of his pants, but she didn’t.

She gasped when she entered his bathroom.  Glistening gold-flecked burnt rose marble tiles covered the floor, and the countertop of the double-sink vanity was topped with a huge slab of the same material.  A huge jetted tub took up one side of the large room, and a shower large enough for two people separated the tub from the toilet area.  The cabinetry was made of dark shiny wood which also accented the bathroom and enclosed the toilet area providing privacy, she guessed, in case there were two people in there at once.  She made a mental note to explore the room in more detail later, if she could.

When she returned from the bathroom, she did make a point to set aside a rather large banana and an elcair…and a couple of cookies…after she made herself another cup of coffee.  It tasted like that fake-popular, nasty burnt crap available on just about every street corner in America, but she wasn’t going to complain out loud.  The contents of the humongous basket were obviously gathered with her comfort in mind, and she really did appreciate the effort and gesture.

“For what it’s worth, I’m absolutely in awe of your bathroom, Godric.  It’s gorgeous,” she exclaimed as she sat back down on the sofa.

The slow, leisurely way his hot blue eyes travelled her body made her catch her breath.  “We will definitely have to enjoy a bath together later.”

Even knowing that her face was turning three shades of red didn’t prevent Cara from peeping up at him and humming her agreement.

Although his nostrils flared and his cock jumped for joy at her consent, Godric was determined to work on the unresolved issues between them.  To that end, he took her cup from her hands and placed it back on the table behind him, scooped her up, and sat down with her firmly ensconced on his lap.  He turned her around so that she was facing him with her knees on either side of his hips, and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

“Now, why do you fear loving me?”

Shocked at the bluntness of his return to the detested subject, Cara’s first instinct was to bolt, but with those strong arms around her, she wasn’t going anywhere.  She placed her hands on his chest in an unconscious effort to place distance between them.

Sensing her alarm at his bluntness, Godric relented a bit.  “We have much to discuss this night, but this is, to me, the most important thing.  Once we have resolved this issue, perhaps we can spend the rest of our time much more,” he quirked his brow, “comfortably.”

Was he bribing her with sex?  After examining his intently focused, slightly smug face again, Cara decided that he was definitely bribing her with sex.  That arrogant jerk.  She felt her body respond immediately.

Somehow he managed to pull her even closer into the strength of his body, and began running his hands over her back slowly, soothingly.  After a few moments, he gently guided her head down to his shoulder, and took the scrunchy out of her hair.  He loosened and smoothed her hair, and started softly massaging her scalp, all the while lightly stroking her back.

Little by little he felt her begin to relax, and so he waited.  He hid his smile when he felt her arms slowly circle his waist.

Knowing without being told that she wasn’t going anywhere till she at least said something, Cara took a deep breath.

“It’s noting serious, Godric, really.  I just, well…” she faltered, belying her opening statement.  “Ok, to me, love is nothing more than a power struggle, a struggle for control, especially when lust is involved.  If you love me, you’ll do this.  If I love you, then I’ll do that.  It’s just that simple.  You trade your power, favors and actions to receive the power, favors, and actions that you want, and I don’t like it being like that, but that’s just the way it is.”

Godric leaned his head back, sensing a long night ahead.

“You once said you have issues with control?”

“Yeah, I definitely do.”  She was tensing up again, so he started rubbing her back very slightly harder and imperceptivity firmed his hand on her head.  Also undetected by Cara, he quietly began pushing a small amount of calm through the bond.  Soon enough, she started relaxing again.

“What has happened to make you feel this way?”  Forcing his own body to remain relaxed was incredibly difficult considering his thoughts regarding whoever had hurt his woman in such a way.

“Oh, nothing in particular.  I mean, I’ve had a few romances in the past, if you can call them that.  But it’s been years and years since I even wanted to be with anyone.”

Godric nodded.  Although he was in no way through with this subject, he knew when discretion was the better part of valor.  Besides, there was more than one way to discover what he needed to know.

“What do you see when you stare out the kitchen window at night?  It is too dark for you to see very much.”

He felt Cara immediately relax completely, lulled into believing that the hated subject was closed.  He smirked…and continued his loving attentions.

“The night sky.”

Surprise evident in his voice, Godric replied, “The night sky?  What do you see in the dark skies?”

“Forever.”

Cara shrugged, then leaned back enough to look him in the face.  “I can’t imagine what you see when you look up at night because the night is all you have.  But when I look up at the night sky, I see the beauty of the moon, feel the calling of the stars and I see the knowledge that, under the cover of darkness, we are all the same.  When you look up and out and away from this planet, when you’re looking up at the stars, time has no meaning.  You just keep looking outward and beyond everything that you can see and touch and know here, where we are at that particular moment.  I know I’m not making a lot of sense, but…you did ask.”  She grinned at his bewildered expression.

“I love watching for meteor showers and falling stars.  I’d love to see the auroras borealis and australis for myself one day.  I can’t say I’d ever actually want to go out into space or anything like that, but just think of all the dreams that have been dreamt while pondering the beauty in the stars.  They’ve been around forever in human imaginations.  Plus,” she laughed, “they’re really, really pretty.”

Completely bemused, enthralled and fascinated, Godric gazed down in wonder at the enigma on his lap.  “But…why…”  He stopped, then continued, “Several times I have sensed a great amount of melancholy, even pain, from you when you do this.  Why?”

Cara’s face softened into sorrow and resignation.  “Who wants to spend forever alone?”

Godric immediately hissed in response.  Clutching her to him almost painfully tight, he growled a long string of harsh-sounding words she didn’t understand, ending with, “You are not alone, min Cara.  You will never be alone again!”

The look on his face should have terrified her, but she was suddenly flooded with layers upon layers of love, need, possessiveness, want, determination, adoration, passion, protection.  And lust.  Strong, strong primal lust.

In the blink of an eye she found herself naked, on her back, in his bed.  His eyes blazing a blue she’d never seen before, his fangs fully extended, his own clothing in shreds across the floor, she had never seen Godric this…predatory, feral.   Growling low and deep, he pinned her hands above her head with one hand and tested her readiness for him with the other.

Finding her slick and hot with need, he braced them both then plunged in balls deep in one hard thrust…pulled almost all the way back out, then plunged in again…over and over, all the while growling and snarling that she was his, that she was not alone and never would be.

Cara knew instinctively that the primitive male vampire beast in him was in charge, that the beast living inside him was dealing with the situation as best he could.  She barely had time to circle his waist with her legs before her first orgasm struck.  Then came the second as she screamed his name over and over and dug her nails deep into his hand… followed quickly by the third where she bit him as hard as she could then arched them both off the bed, and still he showed no signs of stopping.

Eventually, her hands still pinned above her head, his mouth descended to claim hers, his kiss fierce and dominant, his lips and tongue and teeth battling for control.

By the fourth time she came undone, she could barely pant his name as hot, endless waves of pleasure flowed and crested.  Somewhere in the back of her hazy mind it occurred to her that his bed didn’t bang against the wall like hers did.

Then he flipped her over to her hands and knees.  He didn’t even break his ancient rhythm as he slammed back into her, pounding at a different angle bringing new pleasures and sensations to Cara as she dug her nails into the sheets.  He never once stopped growling.

The incredibly hot storm was building up yet again when suddenly a bleeding wrist slammed into her mouth and she drank, pulling long and hard even as she felt his fangs pierce deep into her neck.

The feeling of his blood flowing into her at the same time as her blood was flowing into him caused her to come undone with such force that the world ceased to exist.

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**Hummm…so, what do y’all think just happened…  Review, please!**

(Self-pimping section:  If you’re in the mood for a slightly different kind of romance-ish story, check out my (so far short) story  “The Revealing of Andre” …yes, that Andre…)

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Next to:  Chapter 37

Back to:  Chapter 35